Hi! I'm working on an Eva fan edit, and I'd really like someone to take a look to make sure I haven't messed up the Japanese language track.Is there anyone here fluent in Japanese who'd be willing to help? Or any suggestions on where else I might look for someone?

To start with, I've just got a one minute video that needs translating to confirm it says what I think it does.

We have user Pluto who is fluent in Japanese and English, but he doesn't seem to be around very often nowadays.

Also, we use the old (ADV Platinum) translations of scripts on the commentary project and several of those include comments on the translations of scripts in particular scenes. I know it's no substitute for having a real human translator, but if you can match the sentences to particular scenes (easy in Episode 01-08 and 19) you would have a fair translation of what the scene says and possibly even translation discussion.

UrsusArctos wrote:We have user Pluto who is fluent in Japanese and English, but he doesn't seem to be around very often nowadays.

Thanks! I've sent him a message.

Also, we use the old (ADV Platinum) translations of scripts on the commentary project and several of those include comments on the translations of scripts in particular scenes.

Definitely some interesting stuff there; I'm going to have to read it all at some point. I don't think it helps with my specific issues, though. Eg the literal translation of "You've got to destroy the rest of the Eva series" seems to be something like "the Eva series will surely be destroyed". Presumably, the context makes it clear that it's meant as an instruction to the person she's talking to, but out of context, does it work as a straightforward statement about what's going to happen? And could it easily be changed to say "Pen Pen will surely destroy the Eva series" by adding something like "Pen Pen wa" to the start?

gelflinghand wrote: Eg the literal translation of "You've got to destroy the rest of the Eva series" seems to be something like "the Eva series will surely be destroyed". Presumably, the context makes it clear that it's meant as an instruction to the person she's talking to, but out of context, does it work as a straightforward statement about what's going to happen?

Change it to "the Eva series must surely be destroyed" and you get something that makes far better sense in English. You're correct that Japanese is a language that is extremely context-dependent, and it allows for a level of ambiguity that is not present in English or many other European languages. At the same time, there are several sentences that do have straightforward translations.

I do know that the Netflix translation is much more literal than the Platinum translation, in part because Khara's translator, Dan Kanemitsu, has a strong preference for trying to convey the literal meaning of the words as much as possible. Some translators try to be as literal as possible while others take a different approach, translating sentences less literally but in a way that sounds more natural in the translated language (which, depending on translation quality, may or may not result in a loss of meaning). While the Platinum translations with their lower "fidelity" to the original text might be of some help, I think it would be far better to consult Pluto on any translation choices.

Hmmm... I see the main blu-ray/Netflix subtitles still have the "Adam came from Lillith" error (despite being a new translation), though the dub and SDH subtitles are fixed. Is their dub generally better than their sub, or is that a one-off mistake?